Sharp County record., 1887-09-29

sword, Paul calmly says: 81
lam now ready to be offered, and the time Of
nv departure is at hand.
But put my hand over my eyes:
want not to see that last struggle One
sharp, keen stroke, and Paul does go 10
the banquet, uand Paul does dine with the
King.
What a transition it wasl From the
malaria of Rome to the finest climate IN
the universe-the zone OF eternal beauty
and health. His ashes were put INTO the
catacombs of Rome, but In one moment
the air of Heaven bathed from his soul the
last ache. From shipwreck, from dungeon,
from the biting pain of the elmWood
rods, from the sharp sword OF the heads
man, he goes into the most brilliant as
semblage Of Heaven, King among
Kings, multitudes of the sainthood rush.
ing out :and stretching forth hands OF
welcome; for do really think that as on
the right hand of God is Christ so on the
right hand of Christ IS Paul, the second
great in Heaven.
He changed kings likewise. Before the
hour of death, and up to the last moment,
| he was under Nero, the thick-necked, tne
cruel-eyed, the flthy-lipped, the SOUP
tured features of that man bringing
down to US to this very day the horrible
possibilities of his nature-seated as ne
was amidst pictured marbles OF Egypt,
under a roof adorned with mother-ot'
| pearl, in a dining-room which, by ma
| chinery, was kept whirling day and night
with most bewitching magnihcence MS
horses standing in stalls OF solid gold,
and the ground around his palace Lighted
at night by his victims, who had been
daubed with tar and pitch and then SGT on
fire to illuminate the darkness. That was
Paups king. But the next moment ne
goes into the realm of him whose reign is
love, and whose courts are paved with
love, and whose throne 10 set on
pillars of love, and whose scepter
is adorned with jewels of love and
whose palace is lighted with love, and
whose lifetime is an eternity OF love,
When Paul was leaving so much on this
side the pillar of martyrdom to gain 80
much on the other side, do you wonder at
the cheerful valedictorv of the text:
The time Of my departure is at hand.
Now, why can not all the old people OF
this congregation have the same holy
glee as that aged man had' Charles l.,
when he was combing his head found
gray hair and he sent it to the Queen as
great Joke; but old age is really no joke
at all. For the last forty years you have
been dreading that which ought to have
been an exhiaratlon. You say you most
fear the struggle at the moment the soul
and body part. But millions have endured
that moment, and why not we as well,
| They got through with it, and so can we.
Beside this, all medical men agree in say
ing that there is probably no struggle at
all at the last moment-not so much pain
as the prick of a pin, the seeming signs Of
distress being altogether involuptary.
But you say:
'It is the uncertainty Of the future"
Now, child of God, do not play the infdel.
After God has filled the Bible till it can
hold no more with stories OF the good
things ahead, better not talk about uncer-
tainties Butyou say:
81 can not bear to think Of parting from
| friends here"
If you are old you have more friends in
| Heaven than here. just take the census.
Take some large sheet of paper and begin
|
to record the names of those who have
| emigrated to the other shore-the COM
panions of your school days, your early
business associates, the friends of middle
lrIfe, and those who m ore recently went
away. Hs
Can it be that they have been gone 30
long you do not care any more about
them, and you do not want their societyl
Oh, mol There have been days when you
have felt that you could not en-
dure it another moment away from
their blessed panionship. They have
gone. You say you would not like TO
bring them back to this world Of trouble,
even if you had the power. 1t would not
do to trust you. God would not give you
resurre ction power Before tomorrow
morning you would be rattling at the
gates of the cemetery, crying to the de-
parted:
"Come back to the cradle where you
slept come back to the hall where you
used to playl come back to the table
where you used to sitr' and there would
be great burglary in Heaven. No, mol
God will not trust you with resurrection
power, but he compromises the matter
and says:
"You can not bring them where you
are, but you can go where they are"
They are more lovely now than ever.
Were they beautiful here, they are more
beautiful there.
Beside that, it is more healthy there for
you than here, aged man; better climate
there than these hot summers and cold
winters and late springs; better hearing;
better eye-sight; more tonic in the air;
more perfume in the bloom; more sweet
ness in the song. Do you not feel, tagged
man, sometimes, as though you would
like to get your arm and foot free' Do
you not feel as though you would like to
throw away spectacles and canes and
crutchesl Would you not like to feel the
spring and elasticity and mirth Of an
eternal boyhoodi When the point at
which you start from this world is old
age, and the point to which you go is
eternal juvenescence, aged man, clap
your hands at the anticipation, and say in
perfect rapture of soul:
The time Of my departure is at hand.
Iremark, again, all these ought to feel
this Joy of the text who have a holy
curiosity to know what is beyond this
earthly terminus. And who has not any
curiosity about it' Paul, suppose, had
the most satisfactory view of Heaven, and
| he says
at doth not yet appear what we shall
| be-"